Welcome! This page is for submissions to the 2022 BMessays Contest. Are you a Western undergraduate science student? The Bachelor of Medical Sciences Association (BMSA) and Western Libraries are proud to present this opportunity to unleash your creativity, show off your writing, and compete to win amazing prizes in this semester's contest!

This year’s theme is: health equity. To enter, follow the submission guidelines below for a chance to win a prize as well as have your work published on Scholarship@Western.

Expository Essay

Published recently on Western News, Professor of Economics, James Davies has expressed, “We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.” The Covid-19 global pandemic has greatly affected several social determinants of health and overall health equity in Canada.

The Western News article and Public Health Ontario report linked below gives great detail on inequality and Covid-19, as well as how social determinants of health have been affected in Canada.

You have witnessed first-hand how Canada has dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic through policy measures. If and when a pandemic occurs in the future, what would be your course of action to enhance health equity in Canada?

Prompt: Pick two to three social determinants that you believe are critical to enhance health equity for Canadians. Describe what policy measures you would implement that address your chosen social determinants and how it would ultimately improve health equity in Canada.

*Note: You are encouraged to include further research in your essay alongside the two resources provided below. Please cite in MLA format.

(1) Western News Article
(2) Public Health Ontario Report
Max. word count: 1000

Schedule

Beginning to accept submissions	Feb. 12 at 6:00 a.m.
Deadline for submissions	April 8 at 11:59 p.m.

Prizes

First place prize – Best Essay Submission award:

$250 Amazon gift card
Published in Scholarship@Western

Essay Runners-Up (2):

$50 Amazon gift card
Published in Scholarship@Western

Important Links

Submission Guidelines

Policies

All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of student judges, followed by a final round of judging by our panel of experts. Judges TBD

Ready to Submit?

Questions?

Contact Saniyah Qureshi, BMSA co-VP Communications or Ronnie Du, BMSA co-VP Communications

Email: squres55@uwo.ca or gdu6@uwo.ca
Subject line: QUESTION - BMessays Contest

Winners

Congratulations to all of these students!

Expository Essay Rankings:

First place: Katherine Haoyu Luo - Critical Social Determinants to Enhancing Health Equity: an Indigenous Perspective
Runner-up: Amy Kwon - Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Runner-up: Lisa Shin - Race, Income, and the COVID-19 Pandemic